An international software and payments firm will create 200 jobs in Newcastle city centre by opening a customer service centre.
Newcastle beat off stiff competition from nine other UK cities to welcome Xplor, which is expanding globally. The jobs, to be created in 2021, will include customer service, software development, R&D, multilingual and technical support.
The company, which received almost a million pounds from the North of Tyne Combined Authority’s Inward Investment Grant Fund, plans to expand further in the North East city in the coming years.
Leader of Newcastle City Council, Cllr Nick Forbes, said: “Newcastle is a city on the global stage.
“We are now building a strong digital sector, which includes a growing FinTech base, that can compete with other big cities and have the ingredients we need – good transport links, culture, beautiful open spaces, a vibrant night-time economy and a skilled versatile workforce to attract investors.
“Xplor is a global leader, and any ambitious city would have been delighted to be host to their new UK base, but they chose Newcastle which underlines real confidence.
“In the short term Xplor will provide over 200 jobs for residents with the prospect for many more to come which is exactly what we need as we begin to recover from the pandemic.”
Xplor offers enterprise software solutions for businesses in education, health and fitness, boutique wellness, field services and personal services, as well as a global, cloud-based processing platform that allows clients to securely process payments for their services.
It employs more than 2,000 people across offices in the UK, Europe, Australasia and North America.
Jennifer Hartley, Director at Invest Newcastle, which has been working closely with Xplor, said: “Working closely with our partners including Invest North East England and the North of Tyne Combined Authority, I had the pleasure of showing off our city and its strengths to Xplor just before lockdown.
“Xplor is the perfect fit for Newcastle and this international investment shows confidence in our city as a place to attract and retain talent and build a successful business.”
Camilla Sunner, Chief Commercial Officer for the UK & Europe at Xplor, said: “We’re incredibly excited to be building a brand-new customer service delivery centre in the city centre of Newcastle to better serve our health and fitness, and business clients across the UK and Europe.
“As their needs change and grow, we will continue to invest in intelligent solutions, greater automation, and in our talented people, to build a world-class service delivery model capable of meeting their needs now and in the future.”